The Hills Council in bid to override state planning controls

The Hills Council has come up with its own formula for unit sizes and mixes and now wants Planning Minister Pru Goward to allow its localised controls to override state policy.

Mayor Michelle Byrne said while she accepted that the Planning Minister expected apartments around transport nodes, such as railway stations, the State Environment Planning Policy was a ‘‘one-size-fits-all solution for NSW’’ and what worked in the CBD didn’t necessarily work in Castle Hill.

‘‘Let’s make apartment living a very attractive proposition to the community,’’ Councillor Byrne said.

Her council has approved a new set of controls for apartment sizes and apartment mix, to be included in the Hills Development Control Plan and now seeks to have the council exempt from the section of the SEPP that relates to apartment sizes for residential flat buildings.

“The SEPP sets out minimum apartment sizes that are significantly smaller than the minimum apartment sizes set out in council’s DCP,’’ Cr Byrne said.

She said developers were providing the smallest apartments possible in the name of housing affordability — ‘‘lots of 50-square-metre one-bedroom apartments’’ — which was reducing housing affordability and diversity.

“Our challenge for Sydney is to encourage residents and families to see higher density living as an attractive lifestyle option,’’ she said.

■ Type 1 apartments shall not exceed 30 per cent of the total number of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments;

■ Type 2 apartments shall not exceed 30 per cent of the total number of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments;

■ All remaining apartments are to comply with Type 3 apartment sizes;

■ No more than 25 per cent of the dwelling yield is to comprise either studio or one-bedroom apartments; and

■ No less than 10 per cent of the dwelling yield is to comprise apartments with three or more bedrooms.